Patagonia Another Way of Doing Business Essay Example for Free

Patagonia Another Way of Doing Business Essay 1Introduction Patagonia was founded in 1957 by Yvon Chouinard who defines himself as a reluctant business man. He started his business as a way to climb and surf year long, seeking to build the best product to satisfy his passion. â€Å"Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. † –Patagonias Mission Statement Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running. Customers are willing to pay a premium for the Patagonia brand and environmental ethic. The companys goal is as simple as it is challenging: to produce the highest-quality products while doing the least possible harm to the environment. Yvon Chouinard founder and owner of Patagonia has done business differently since the beginning of the company, placing environmental sustainability and social welfare of his employee before profit. Three examples of the company practice will show how marketing and business can meet ethical behavior. Patagonia: a different workplace environment Patagonia is hiring only passionate people (friends, family†¦) who are also product user so they don’t have to understand the customer because they are the customer. Patagonia has developed the Let My People Go surfing flextime policy to cope with the employee passion (surfing, backcountry skiing†¦). There are no private offices and the architectural layout keep communication opens. The cafeter ia where employees can gather throughout the day serves healthy, mostly vegetarian food. The company has also an on-site child care center, the presence of children playing in the yard, or having lunch with their parents in the cafeteria helps keep the company atmosphere more familial than corporate. Patagonia has a program that allows employees to take off up to two months at full pay to work for environmental groups. Patagonia fosters creativity and authenticity through its work environment and hiring process enabling the development of original products. 3Patagonia: The 1% for the Planet Initiative Since 1985, Patagonia has devoted 1% of its sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. The company has awarded over $46 million in cash and in-kind donations to domestic and international grassroots environmental. In 2002, founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, created a non-profit corporation to encourage other businesses to do the same. 1% For The Planet is an alliance of businesses that understand the necessity of protecting the natural environment. As of today 1401 companies are members of the 1% for the Planet Initiative and donate 1% of their sales to a network of 2,735 environmental organizations worldwide. More than a marketing campaign, The 1% for the Planet Initiative is a really strong statement from Patagonia (no matter what are the financial results 1% of its sales will serve the environmental cause every year), it has reinforced the company corporate social responsibility and ethical image, hence the loyalty of its core customers. 4Patagonia: The Common Threads Initiative This marketing program first asks customers to not buy something if they dont need it, then if they do need it, Patagonia ask that they buy what will last a long time and to repair what breaks, reuse or resell whatever they dont wear any more. And, finally, recycle whatevers truly worn out. Patagonia with The Common Threads Initiative is the first private company launching a marketing campaign telling its customers to buy less or to buy used gear. In September 2011 Patagonia launched an online marketplace in collaboration with eBay for customers to sell and buy their used Patagonia products. This feature is displayed on the homepage of patagonia. com. Recycling is what we do when were out of options to avoid, repair, or reuse the product first. Thats why I am so impressed with Patagonia for starting its Common Threads Initiative with the real solution: Reduce. Dont buy what we dont need. Repair: Fix stuff that still has life in it. Reuse: Share. Then, only when youve exhausted those options, recycle (Leonard, 2011). This new marketing campaign was unveiled at the New York fashion week as an experiment. Only a private company without public shareholder and a charismatic leader with strong belief can promote such a different business attitude. 5Conclusion Patagonia has always done business and marketing differently. In the seventies Chouinard Equipment had become the largest supplier of climbing hardware in the U. S. It had also become an environmental threat because its gear was damaging the rock. Yvon Chouinard and his partner decided to phase out of this business even it if was the main source of revenue for the company, it was the first environmental step for Patagonia. Instead of focusing on profit the company took a big risk by discontinuing a successful line of products to promote an alternative solution (aluminum chocks) for climbers. It became a success because Patagonia crafted the right product with the right message and stayed true to its core values. Today with the Common Threads Initiative they are pursuing the exact same philosophy and trying to push the industry to adopt more ethical business behaviors. Patagonia’s highly public search for a new way of doing business implies a new kind of relationship with customers, reinforced by unconditional guarantees, extremely high product quality and an explicit commitment to ethical codes of behavior (Reinhardt, 2000).

Antigone: The Conflict of Hubris, Fate, and The gods Essay -- Sophocle

Antigone: The Conflict of Hubris, Fate, and The gods Sophocles, Antigone is a classic example of the role of the gods in the life of a Grecian. It is a story of the precedent set by the gods, versus the will and actions of the characters of Antigone. Creon deceives himself into believing that he is upholding the laws set by the gods. While he would like to think of himself as being above the gods, even he can not deny their power. The humans were to revere the gods above all else, despite any obstacles that tried to displace them. Creon lies to himself to convince himself that he is not violating the laws of the gods. At first, Creon is able to ignore the edicts of the gods, because his beliefs lie shallowly within the boundaries of his mind, whereas Antigone’s reverence for the gods pierces the depths of her heart. In Antigone Creon falls victim to the tragic flaw of hubris, eventually leading the destruction of his house. Polynices and Etiocles were the rightful heirs to the thrown; however they were killed by mutual fratricide, a dishonorable way to kill and be killed. Creon’s only legitimate claim for the thrown of the house of Thebes would have been through Edipus; however, Edipus’ only claim to the thrown was the riddle of the sphinx. By Greek law this would not have transferred down to Creon, thus making his stake to the thrown an insecure one. Do to this, Creon has a plaguing fear of anarchy in his city. He wants to be a strong ruler, with no one questioning his authority, or challenging his power. This desire comes from a root of instability and illegitimacy. Creon’s first element of pride is to have a chorus that is loyal to him. If Creon could not even prove the legitimacy of his line to h... ... discusses the conflict between the will of the god’s versus the will of man, and what right Polynices even had to being buried. According to Greek culture, Creon had ever right to make a decree stating that Polynices need not be buried within city limits; however, he was going too far in his decree of no burial at all. The Irony is that in the end he ignores religion again, to have Polynices buried with the city limits, where the god’s would have wanted him outside of the city. There are many more elements of Grecian law and religion that this article discusses, and because of that this will definitely be a very helpful source. I can see many of the points that I was looking to make, backed up within this article. This article was an extremely helpful find. Works Cited Sophocles. Antigone Dover Thrift Editions New York: Dover Publications, INC. 1993

Coke-India: Case Study Essay

Coca-Cola has considerably gained a large share of the market in the soft drinks industry. In the chase of expanding to foreign companies, it decided to explore India which presented great potential for revenues due to the growing population. The company built bottling plants in India and also contracted with local entrepreneur to facilitate the circulation of the products. Acquisition of local beverages companies, aggressive advertising campaigns and competitive pricing played an important role in helping penetrating the market and gave Coca-Cola a competitive advantage over local beverages. In no time, Coca-Cola had gained the trust of the population and experienced a tremendous growth of the business in the region. This success was tarnished when accusations were brought to the government of India about a discovery found in the tests conducted by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a Non-Governmental Organization in India. The discovery revealed that elevated amount of toxic substances (including Lindane, DDT, malathion and Chlorpyrifos) had been found in Coke and Pepsi products; especially in soft drinks. These substances are known to be dangerous to human health including causing cancer, birth defects and damage to the nervous and reproductive systems. Following this discovery, India’s government banned all Coke and Pepsi products and launched an independent investigation. Coke stock price plumed; the company promised to launch its own investigation and provide the results of the tests to disclaim the CSE’s accusations to regain the trust of the consumers in India. Previous cases involving Coca-Cola Company show that this is not the first time that the company is involved in this type of allegations. The purpose of this letter is to bring to your attention the ethical issue presented in Coke’s business practices with emphasis on product safety and quality. The practices presented in the facts above need to be investigated and resolved. If these practices are not investigated and addressed, the effects to the population will be very devastating for many. The concerns will eventually spread out of India and pose great distress to the community of soft drinks consumers around the world. In addition to the consumers, these concerns will also affect India’s population, employment growth In India, the employees, current and future investors, the suppliers and the competitors. In response to these practices, I am proposing three different approaches that can be used to solve the dilemma and I hope that one of them can ultimately be implemented. The three alternative resolutions are based on the Utilitarian principle, the ethics of Virtues and Kant’s Categorical Imperative rule. The Utilitarian principle calls for actions that would produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness (James, 2010). If Coca-Cola wants to regain the trust of its consumers and reassures them of the non-validity of the accusations, it should use mass media and communicate the results of their own tests to the greatest number of people. Instead of doing so, the companies redirected the consumers to its website to find the information. Now in a population with a low per capita of 6 bottles per year, I do not think that finding the results on the website is a proper media source for the consumers. Coming clean about the allegations will reassure the consumers and all the stakeholders. If the company uses the mass media to publish its results, the vast majority of population will get answers to the concerns and this will also help the company increase sales and attract more investors. Another solution will be based on the ethics of Virtues. According to Aristotle, a virtue is a trait or character manifested in habitual action (James, 2010). Here, Coke and Pepsi should construct positive behaviors of honesty and care and therefore invest more resources in educating the population on the processes used to manufacture their beverages; from the collection of water to the cleanliness of the trucks used for transportation of the final products without of course revealing the recipe of the drinks. The purpose of this step is to present consumers the strict safety standards that the companies claimed they use at all times in their manufacturing lants. In doing so, these companies show care for their consumers and their willingness to abide to regulations. The facts presented above show that this is not the first time Coca-Cola is involved in this type of allegations as mentioned in the Belgium case of 1999. Instead of taking responsibility for the accusations Ivester, Coca-Cola’s CEO at the time on visit in Paris, returned to the U. S. A without responding to the crisis; leaving the consumer in distress. This is not a behavior of a person who cares about the well-being of the consumers. To avoid this type of habit to develop, it is important to implement policies that ensure that the processes of manufacturing these goods are well presented to consumers. The third alternative resolution is based on Kant’s Categorical Imperative rule. Kant defined this rule as follow: â€Å"act only according to that maximum by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law† (James, 2010). Kant’s Categorical Imperative rule calls to act in such a way that the action taken under the circumstance could be a universal law, rule or behavior. I think that Coke, Pepsi and other beverage companies in India should joint the government in developing standards that they believe are strict enough to eliminate the potential for contamination in the manufacturing process of the soft drinks. These standards will also ensure a safe delivery of the final products. Everything use to produce and deliver the final product should be free of all contaminants. In developing these standards, companies involved and the government should make sure that the standards apply to all the parties involved in the production of beverages. In conclusion, I believe that the ethics of Virtues is the best approach to address this issue. A company that cares about the well being of its consumers always engages in activities that promote that objective. By caring for the consumers, managers at Coca-Cola and Pepsi will ensure that all the proper steps are taken to eliminate contamination. If a contamination occurs somehow, the company should take responsibility for the event and assist in resolving it; not run away and abandon the consumers in distress. Corporations should face the consequences of their actions at all time.

Communication Competence - 1087 Words

1 Communication Effectiveness Have you ever had to communicate important information to a diverse group of people you share unique working relationships with? Carrying the responsibility of managing the day to day operation of a fifty five million dollar medical Distribution Company forces me into communication instances which require care and precision for effective delivery. As an Operations Leader, I am responsible for delivering information to a large group of diverse individuals serving several different employment roles. Even though the audience is not responding audibly, as the presenter, I must communicate through a through a transactional communication model, meaning that, â€Å"I must communicate simultaneously with my†¦show more content†¦As you can see, the context situation and individual I am communication with forces me to choose from a variety of behaviors. Taking into account the diversity of each situation and personality requires thoughtful consideration to which behavior I choose . In addition to having a wide range and focus for the appropriate behavior, I must also consider which skills will allow me to transition from thought into action. As a young child, I developed a severe stuttering problem and had to overcome what seemed to be a life hurdle to successfully communicate in today’s society. It wasn’t until I had reached the 4th grade that my mind was capable or realizing there was a better way to communicate. The grueling process of relearning to breathe and pronounce hard onset syllables was awkward, though the more time I spent practicing, the easier it was to learn new habits and develop strong speaking behaviors. Similarly, learning to communicate with a diverse group of people, I had to practice, sometimes with multiple failed attempts, to achieve a level of skillfulness and an ability to integrate. I’ve taken all the strategies I’ve learned from a child to an adult to become skillful communicator. In additional to applying behaviors mastering personal skills to improve my communication platform, the steps required understanding the competent characteristics of an effective communicator, I feel I will be able to successfully manage and lead aShow MoreRelatedCompetence in Communication Essay1143 Words   |  5 PagesCommunication competence is the capability an individual has in choosing the correct communication behavior which is not only effective, but also appropriate for a particular situation. Competent, effective communication among group members establishes an atmosphere of reliance and feeling that one belongs. 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